Mumbai Bandh roundup: How Dalit protestors brought city to a standstill

By Rajendra B Aklekar | Mumbai

Jan 04, 2018, 08:30 IST

Train, bus and Metro services hit for the most part of the day as protesters take over the roads in Mumbai

Protesters relax at Worli Naka. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Mumbai's public transport experienced a near total collapse on Wednesday, as protesting Dalits took over the city's roads, railways and even the Metro. Trains and Metro services remained suspended for the better part of the day, while the fear of vandalising mobs kept autorickshaw and cab drivers off the roads.

The first protests began on Central Railway (CR) at Thane station around 7.45 am, and from there, the agitation spread to several stations across all three railway lines. Until 10.30 am, CR's main line witnessed sporadic rail roko demonstrations at Diva, Titwala and Vasind stations. However, these lasted only for minutes, as railway staff, and cops from the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police quickly cleared out the mob.

CR stations vandalisedIt was only 11.30 am onwards that services were badly hit by rail rokos at Ghatkopar, Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg stations. Protestors ripped out benches at Kanjurmarg station, smashed indicators and dustbins, and vandalised the station. Railway staffers were able to save the escalators by locking them up. Booking windows were smashed at Dombivli, where many protestors were caned and detained. The Harbour line, which was completely paralysed by rail rokos on Tuesday, ran normally last morning, but got disrupted post 11.15 am, after protestors staged rail rokos at Juinagar and Govandi stations. Services were suspended on the main and the Harbour on CR till 4 pm, when the police got the situation under control.

Police officers nab one of the hooligans at Chembur. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

No chilling for WROn Western Railway (WR), the authorities withdrew the new AC local train after four trips. The majority of the protestors' ire was focused on Virar and Goregaon stations, where the rail rokos began at 8.25 am. Stones were pelted at trains, and some food stalls and indicators were broken at Goregaon station, but there was no other major damage on WR. Protestors also blocked trains at Nalasopara. The protests led to a delay of 30 minutes in services. There were about 110 cancellations on CR, and 60 on WR. "Preventive arrests/detention were done by GRP/Police, with the assistance of RPF while removing protesters from the station premises/tracks. RPF has registered 13 cases under the Railway Act for nuisance, obstructing trains, etc, against unidentified persons. The offenders will be identified on the basis of CCTV footage," a railway spokesperson said.

Metro services shutMumbai Metro services were partially suspended from 11.30 am onwards, between Ghatkopar and Airport Road. Sources said protestors had entered the Metro posing as commuters till Ghatkopar, where they jumped in front of the rake and shouted slogans and waved flags. Services resumed around 4.55pm on the Ghatkopar-Airport Road leg. Services were undisturbed on the Versova-Airport Road stretch.

BEST is worst hitBEST buses took the worst of the beating yesterday, with as many as 90 buses getting damaged in vandalism and stone-pelting incidents. Four bus drivers got injured at Worli and Powai, said a BEST spokesperson. In Thane, protestors set buses ablaze, damaging them beyond repair. Out of 3,370 daily services, 162 buses were suspended. Bus services were suspended in areas such as Kandivli, Goregaon, Powai, Andheri, Sahar, Mulund and Worli.

Meter downOnly about 30 per cent of kaali-peeli cabs were plying yesterday, and many taxis and auto rickshaws went off road in the late afternoon, after attacks on drivers. Two cabs were damaged at Mankhurd, while a few auto drivers were assaulted and their vehicles damaged. Ola and Uber cabs were also few and far in between, and several citizens took to Twitter to complain about the lack of road transport.

Testing times for studentsAttendance dipped to 40 per cent on Wednesday. Schools in Govandi, Mankhurd, Mulund, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Kanjurmarg, Vikhroli, Kandivli East and Borivli remained closed. Very few students or teachers turned up at those that were open. Most city colleges stayed open, but there too, attendance was scarce. In junior colleges, the Std XII preliminary examination has been postponed. However, MU was adamant on proceeding with its exams as per schedule. But after several missed the afternoon papers, it announced it would hold re-examinations for them.

Western suburbsBandra East, Kherwadi and Kalanagar wore a deserted look early in the day, as around 50 RPI(A) protesters gathered there at 9.30 am and asked shopkeepers to down their shutters. The protesters also visited corporate offices in the locality and asked employees to observe the bandh. Around 11.30 am, close to 300 protesters staged a rasta roko at Kherwadi, but the police handled the situation effectively, and ask the mob to not inconvenience commuters. In Goregaon, protestors blocked the road near the Bombay Exhibition Centre, close to the WEH.

Eastern and CentralAs a precautionary measure, security was beefed up at Ramabai Colony in Ghatkopar East, which has a considerable Dalit population. A local alleged that around 10 am, protesters heading from Mumbai to Thane stopped and punctured the tyres of cars on the road. Powai was also affected, as locals reported several incidents of stone-pelting and rasta roko, forcing motorists to turn around from JVLR.

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